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São Paulo reached the leadership of the Brazilian Championship last Thursday, after beating Goiás, away from home, with imposition and with all the players involved, knowing exactly what to do on the field.
A São Paulo that shows its best version of the season. And there were many versions in 2020 …
Before the pandemic, Fernando Diniz was betting on a formation with fast forecasts and a poor midfielder. Until the stoppage due to the coronavirus, the coach said that this was the best moment of the Tricolor since he arrived at the club.
However, after the break, everything changed. São Paulo lost Antonio and his speed in attack. The dribble that broke the lines was over and the defensive system proved to be very vulnerable. To try to cover the need up front, Helinho and Paulinho Boia put themselves to the test, but they didn’t do well.
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Fernando Diniz during Goiás x São Paulo – Photo: Rubens Chiri / http://saopaulofc.net
In defense, countless tests were made, and in that period the club experienced tough eliminations, as in the Paulista Championship, for Mirassol, and in the group stage of the Libertadores. The oscillations put more and more pressure on Fernando Diniz.
– The times we wavered, we had a lot of suffering. We were paying for something we suffered. Mirassol’s defeat was a post-pandemic fluctuation. The pains of the past made the team learn and we were improving our internal relations – Diniz said in an interview after the victory over Goiás.
To end the bad phase, the coach had to give up some convictions and reinforce the midfield with Luan, a much more defensive midfielder than Tchê Tchê. The arrival of Gabriel Sara to the center of the field and the spectacular stage of Brennero, the team’s top scorer of the year with 18 goals, made things easier.
Another important character in this new version of São Paulo was Luciano. The player involved in an exchange with Everton, now in Grêmio, seems to have changed the spirit of the squad. In addition to the goals scored, the forward has vibrancy and lifts the spirits of his teammates with each passing match.
São Paulo players gathered before the game against Goiás – Photo: Rubens Chiri / http://saopaulofc.net
All these factors, added to the conviction of the board of directors to pay Fernando Diniz to remain in the midst of countless manifestations of pressure, made São Paulo arrive at the Brasileirão leadership on December 3 as if holders and reserves were a unit.
Gabriel Sara, for example, knows exactly where Brenner will be within the area. In the second goal against Goiás, the midfielder did not even have to raise his head to know that his teammate would be in the small area just to push the goal.
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Daniel Alves, for his part, already knows that he is in command there in the middle of the field and that he can shoot with a pitch or charge harder on a false play.
Luciano, if he does not score in the match, he will help with the marking, he will fight with the rival and, in some way, he will try to change the soul of the team.
In defense, Diniz knows that today he can count on four defenses. Between Bruno Alves, Arboleda, Diego Costa and Leo, anyone who enters will do the job. In the last three games, everyone has ever played as a starter.
There is still a lot of Brazilian Championship ahead, but São Paulo arrives at this moment with the certainty that the integration and unity acquired can lead the club to the seventh title in the competition and end an eight-year fast without any conquest.
Tricolor returns to the field on Sunday, at 4:00 p.m., against Sport, in Morumbi, for matchday 24.
